Something Remembered
by SilverHearts
Summary: Now complete! Darkness was filling me. It was taking over me. I couldn’t breathe and then...a voice.
1. Chapter 1

'Something Remembered'

Chapter 1

It was raining. I was in this strange town. It was dark and there were shadows…. Everywhere. I was scared. I didn't have a weapon and even if I did, I didn't know how to use it. They were getting closer. I started running. Away from them. I didn't notice the curbstone and I tripped. I was laying there….on the ground. The shadows took this chance to jump me. I could feel them pulling at my heart. Darkness was filling me. It was taking over me. I couldn't breathe and then …. a voice.

"No!" it yelled. The shadow retreated, feeling the great force. The weight was lifted from my chest. I could breathe again. I took in a deep breathe. I opened my eyes, though I didn't even notice I closed them. I found myself staring into these beautiful aquamarine eyes.

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know. I think she's in shock." I heard them say. They picked me up and started walking away. I groaned. My chest hurt!

"Shh…It's alright. You're safe now." He said. I crawled more into is arms. I was so scared. He gripped me tighter.

"She's scared as hell."

"Can't blame her. The heartless almost got her heart. We really need to take her to Aerith. See if she's okay." I relaxed. He was so warm and comfortable. I almost wasn't scared anymore. Almost. Soon I drifted into a deep sleep.

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R&R.

SilverHearts


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I woke up because I heard some, rather loud, voices. I opened my eyes.

"Look! She's waking up!" I heard a new voice say. I groaned. It was a girl. She had short black hair. She was wearing shorts, a green tank top and orange sneakers.

"Hi! I'm Yuffie!" She said. I just stared at her. Then I noticed another person. A guy. He had chocolate brown hair, really spiky and deep blue eyes. He was wearing baggy black pants and a black shirt with black and yellow shoes.

"Don't mind her. She's always that hyper." He said. "I'm Sora. How are you feeling?"

Again, I just stared at them. I didn't know what to say. I didn't trust them. Then the guy with the aquamarine eyes walked in. He had silver hair, but was now wearing a blindfold and a black robe. But I still knew it was the same guy somehow.

"She's not talking, is she?" He asked. Sora shook his head.

"Do you mind leaving us alone?" The guy asked. Yuffie nodded and dragged Sora out of the room, while grinning at me. The guy walked up to me and sat down on the bed. I shifted so I could see him. He smiled.

"I'm Riku. What's your name?" he asked like I was some little kid. I'm 16 you know! I just stared at him, like I did with Sora and Yuffie.

"Do you know how you got here?" he asked. No answer. "I'll take that as a no" he said, still staring at my eyes like he could see right through me. "Look, I know you're really scared and don't know what to say, but please just talk to me" I kinda felt sorry for him so I sat up straight and said

"My name is Jen, I'm 16 and I have no idea how I got here" _'Hmm...he looks kinda hot. Whoa bad thoughts!'_ I mentally smacked myself. He grinned.

"I'm sorry about your memory" he said.

"Yeah…" _'Why is he grinning?' _I added in my thoughts.

"Are you still scared?" He asked. "'cause when I carried you here, you were scared as hell" he continued. I started blushing.

"Eh…Yeah I'm still a little scared. I mean…I don't know if I can trust you guys."

"You can trust us. We saved your life, didn't we?" he said. He stood up. "I'll go get you some clothes" I nodded and he left. I stood up and looked in a mirror. I had long brown hair in a ponytail and emerald green eyes. While I was standing there, staring at myself, one thought came to mind.

'_What the hell am I doing here?' _


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I decided to go look for Riku. I saw that I was wearing a long shirt, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to stay here for long anyway. Or so I thought. I pushed open the door and saw some people. They didn't notice me. Yuffie, Sora and a guy with blond hair and icy blue eyes were talking to each other, or arguing.

"She can't stay here." The blond guy said. They were obviously talking about me.

"But she doesn't remember anything, Cloud! Where else can she go?" Yuffie said.

'_So his_ _name was Cloud.'_

"That's not our problem." Cloud said.

"You're so mean! What if it was you who's lost their memories? How would you feel if we threw you out?"

"I would go and find my memories"

"Oh right. I almost forgot. You don't have any emotions! You wouldn't care! Argh! You're just like Squall!" Yuffie spat.

"It's Leon" Some guy, who obviously was Squall/Leon, said. "Cloud's right. Besides it's much too dangerous with the heartless. She's already been attacked once."

"Hey guys, I have an idea." Sora said. "If she can learn to fight in three days, we let her stay. If she can't, she has to go."

"Fine by me" Leon said. Cloud nodded and Yuffie hesitated but then sighed and said "Fine"

Then Riku came in with some clothes. He_did_ spot me.

"Ah Riku! We were just deciding if we'd let the girl stay or not." Cloud said.

"Her name is Jen and she's standing right behind you" Riku said. They turned around and looked at me. I looked down and went back into the room. I heard Riku say

"You guys are so stupid! How could you have not seen her standing there?"

He came in and closed the door. I sat down on the bed. Riku gave me the clothes.

"You'd better go change in there" He said, while pointing at a room I never noticed was there. It was a bathroom. It was painted black and red, my favourite colours. I quickly slipped out of the large shirt and put on the clothes Riku gave me. They were just normal jeans and a black T-shirt. I was glad he didn't give me a skirt or something pink. I hate that!

Anyway, the clothes fit perfectly. I walked out and noticed Riku was still there. He looked up.

"Hey are y- "

"I'm fine." I interrupted because I knew what he was gonna say. "I heard what they decided and I'm okay with it, I guess."

"What did they decide?" Riku asked.

"If I can learn how to fight in three days, I can stay and if I can't, then I'll go. And I want you to teach me." I said because Riku was the only one I trusted. Riku smirked.

"Me? I would be honoured." He said. I smiled.

"Good. Now, who do I tell?"

"I guess you should tell Cloud." Riku said and told me where to find him.

I walked down the hall when I ran into another woman. She had long brown hair, tied together in a braid and green eyes.

"Hello. I'm Aerith" she said.

"Uh…yeah hi! Are you the one that healed me?"

"Yes, that's right." She said kindly.

"Oh…thanks then…I guess…" I really didn't know what to say. I didn't even know these people.

"If you need anything, just come to me, okay?" She said.

"Okay great!" I smiled and walked further. I arrived at Cloud's room not much later. I knocked, but nobody answered. So I opened the door. I guess he didn't hear me because he was standing outside on the balcony, staring over town. I was about to say something when he sighed and said

"I love you, Aerith" I was confused.

"Then why don't you tell her?" I asked. He jumped and turned around.

"W-what I didn't say anything!" Now I was even more confused.

"Yeah you did. You said 'I love you, Aerith' " His eyes widened.

"I didn't say that, I thought that!"

"Wait. What? Are you saying I can read minds?" Then I realized something. "Wait! I remember! I _can_ read minds!" I said. Cloud looked at me weird.

"That's strange. So can Riku." He said. My eyes widened.

"What! Oh no no no. Please tell me you're kidding!"

"I'm not." He said dryly.

'_Oh god! That means he heard me think that I thought he was hot' _I stormed out of the room and back to the 'living room'. Riku was there, watching TV. I stood in front of him and said.

"Why didn't you tell me you can read people's minds?" He looked up at me and smirked.

"I thought it would be fun to read your mind and guess what? It was."

'_Luckily she can't read my mind' _I heard Riku think. I smiled.

"Oh but I _can_ read your mind, Riku" I said. His eyes widened a little, but then he smirked again and said.

"But you didn't hear anything I would find embarrassing." My smile faded.

"You really heard that?" I asked. His smirk got even bigger. He stood up and walked away. Then he turned around and said

"Yeah, I did"

I stormed at him, but suddenly Sora came out of nowhere and stopped me.

"Let me go!" I yelled. "I'm gonna kill him _and_ that stupid smirk of his!" But Sora held me even tighter and I couldn't move.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

"That asshole didn't tell me he could read minds" I hissed, still struggling to get out of Sora's grasp.

"Yeah and now I know she thinks I'm hot."

Then suddenly some guy with a beard came in and put a friggen' Stop-spell on me! Bastards! Sora let me go and faced the man.

"Merlin! What are you doing here?" Sora asked.

"Hello Sora. I heard there was some kind of problem here and I know how to fix it." Merlin said. "Why don't you get the others?" Sora nodded and left. I still couldn't move so the only thing I saw was Riku, still smirking. _'I'm so gonna kill you when I can move again' _I thought and I knew he could hear me because his smirk go even wider. _'Stop smirking! I hate you! I know you for, what is it, a few hours and I already hate you!' _

"But you still think I'm hot" Riku said. Then everybody came in. Sora had already informed them.

"You can unfreeze her now, Merlin" Cloud said.

"Yes, but you might want to make sure she doesn't kill Riku" Merlin said. Sora got back into his position and Merlin unfroze me. I immediately tried to escape, but Sora was to strong.

"You're so dead when I get the chance." I said.

"Everybody sit down" Merlin said. "You too Jen" he continued as everybody sat down.

"As long as you keep _him_ away from me, I'm fine" I said, glaring at Riku, which made him, naturally, smirk even more, if that was possible. I sat down too, as far away from Riku as possible.

"Now, I think we have a little mind-read problem here." Merlin began. "I have an idea. I can make you two not able to read each other's minds"

"Yes, please!" I almost begged. "I don't want him to keep reading my mind and I don't want to know his perverted thoughts either." The others, except Riku of course, agreed. So Merlin fixed it. One problem solved. Now I had to find a way to kill Riku.

"So when are you gonna train?" Yuffie asked me.

"As soon as I find a partner" I answered. "I'm not gonna train with _him_" I continued.

"Actually, you are" Cloud said. "WE voted on who's gonna train with you and everybody thought it would be best for you to train with Riku" I groaned.

"Do you people hate me or something?" I said. They just laughed and left. Accept Yuffie. She found it necessary to make me even more miserable.

"You have to sleep in Riku's room now, don't you?" She said. I groaned again.

"Why me?" We sat down and talked for a while, but then she went to bed too, leaving me with Riku. I had calmed down a little, but I knew it wouldn't last long.

"Do you have a spare bed?" I asked him.

"No, but you can sleep with me if you want." I felt my anger rising again.

"No, I'll sleep on the couch" I said.

"Whatever you want, ma'am" he turned off the TV and went to his room. I took off my shoes and laid down on the couch. I tried to sleep but I couldn't. It was way too cold and I didn't have a blanket or anything. I just laid there for a while. Then I sighed and stood up. I walked to his door and slowly opened it. He was already sleeping. I tip-toed to his bed and crawled under the blankets, next to Riku. Luckily, the bed was large. So I stayed on one side as far away from him as possible. I knew Riku was gonna make a comment about it in the morning, but hey, at least I was warm.

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Yay! I got a review! Thanks everybody for reading. Now all you have to do is Review too!

SilverHearts


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When I woke up Riku was already up. He was standing at his drawer, probably grabbing some clothes. He was wearing black jogging pants and a black T-shirt. He had his back turned to me.

"Couldn't resist me, now could you?" he said and I just knew he had that smirk on.

"No, you're just way too hot." I said sarcastically.

"Ha! I knew it!"

"I was just cold and since you didn't give me any blankets, I decided to just get in your bed." I said. He turned around and had a shirt in his hand.

"Well, I offered you to sleep in my bed" he said. Then he took off his shirt and I couldn't help but stare. He had a really nice body, very muscular. I had to train against that? He slipped on the T-shirt and I quickly looked away. I felt a blush coming up.

"Ah admiring my body, I see" he smirked. I blushed even more. "Sora brought the bag you had with you when we found you. There's some clothes in it." He continued. I got out of bed and searched through the bag. I picked out a baby-blue T-shirt and some jeans. I changed into them (in the bathroom of course) and went to the living room.

Yuffie, Leon, Cloud and Aerith were eating breakfast. They were looking at me weird when I came in.

"What?" I asked.

"You just came out of Riku's room" Yuffie said.

"So?" I didn't get what they were trying to say. "What's the big deal?" I asked again.

"Did you sleep there?" Yuffie asked.

'_Oh! So that's what they're talking about. Hmm…might as well have a little fun' _ "Yeah" I said. Their eyes widened. Then Riku came in. _'Aw damn. There goes my fun' _

"Did you sleep with Jen?" Yuffie asked Riku. He gave me a weird look. I just glare at him 'cause I was still mad. He smirked. _'Oh no. He's smirking. That's never a good sign'_ I thought.

"Yeah. So?" He said.

"That's sick. You only met her yesterday." Yuffie said.

"Ew not like that! I just slept in his bed." I said.

'She's likes him' I heard Yuffie think.

"I don't" I yelled at Yuffie. She gave me a confused look.

"Your thoughts" I pointed out. She smirked.

"Yeah you do!"

"No I don't"

"You do"

"I don't"

"You do"

And it went on and on and on until Leon got sick of it and yelled. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Jen like- " I quickly put a hand over Yuffie's mouth.

"Oh nothing." I replied innocently. " We were just discussing if…….I…..eh… if I know how to fight"

"Yeah right. Speaking of fighting. Are we gonna train or not?" Riku said.

"Yeah!" I said excitedly while raising my hand in the air. The minute I did that Yuffie said

"Jen likes Riku!"

"Would you stop that. I don't like Riku. In fact I hate him."

"Thanks" Riku said pretending to be hurt.

"You're welcome and while we're on it, Yuffie. I happen to know you have a crush on someone too. A huge one, might I add" I said. Yuffie's eyes widened.

"How do you know about that. I mean….no I don't"

Cloud obviously thought it was getting boring so he changed the subject.'

"Uh Jen? We voted on your training again after yesterday's…..event and we decided you should train with Sora instead of Riku…."

"Yes! Yes! Thank you!"

"But… to test if you're able to fight, you will fight Riku at the end of the training." Cloud continued.

"What! I can't beat him!" I said.

"You don't have to beat him. We just need to see if you can defend yourself enough for the heartless." Leon said.

"Oh okay, I guess…..So where's Sora at?"


	5. Chapter 5

"blah" - talking  
_'blah' _- thinking  
_blah_ - a dream

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Chapter 5

Everyone looked at Riku. Like they expected him to know where Sora was.

"Come on. I'll take you to him" he said while taking my hand and dragging me out the house. I saw that they were beginning to build a fountain in the Second District. Anyway, he took me to what they called 'the Waterway'. It was where Sora last spoke to his girlfriend, Kairi. Or so Riku said. He was actually being nice to me. I knew it wouldn't last long so I was trying to enjoy it.

"Hey Sora" Riku said. Sora looked up.

"Ah. There you are. I've been waiting for you. Let's get started. You can borrow one of my swords" Sora said.

"Great!" I said as he tossed me a sword.

"We'll start with the basic moves like blocking an attack and attacking yourself" he said. That day he taught me all that stuff and I was really getting good at it, though Riku was watching, which made me really nervous somehow. With that stupid blindfold on all the time, I couldn't see who he was watching. Anyway, at the end of the day I was totally exhausted and immediately fell asleep as soon as I laid down in bed.

The next day Sora and I went to the same place. But this time he taught me all kinds of moves. Like the one where he throws his keyblade and it comes back. He told me what it was called, but I forgot the name. Sora knew a lot of moves and I didn't know he was _that_ good.

The day after that we just sparred all day. Of course Sora was holding back on me, 'cause if he didn't I probably wouldn't be able to fight the next day. He also told me he was 14 and I told him I was 16. Then we started talking about random things, while fighting. The three days had gone by really fast, but I still thought I had learned a lot. Soon, I found myself standing in the middle of the Third District. Riku was standing across from me. Cloud, Leon and Yuffie were the judges and were standing at the side.

"Give me everything you got. It can't be _that_ much" Riku said. "I'm not holding back."

'_Not? That's bad! Does he want to kill me or something? I was supposed to kill him, though I've given up on that'_ I thought. Then suddenly, he took off his blindfold and stared at me with those beautiful eyes. 'Whoa, he just gets hotter and hotter' then I mentally smacked myself _'Ah! Bad thoughts! He's an asshole and you know it. Hmm…déjà vu'_

"You ready?" Riku asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be" I answered.

Then the fight began. Riku started slashing at me constantly and I could tell he _was_ holding back on me. But why? In the beginning I could block most of them, to my surprise. But later on, I started getting tired and he started advancing on me. I stepped back as he slashed at me, blocking it or sometimes dodging if I wasn't fast enough. Then I noticed I couldn't walk backwards anymore. _'A wall! Ah damn!' _He knocked my weapon out of my hands when I wasn't paying attention and pinned me against the wall. I stared in his eyes. He smirked. He leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"Not so tough now, are you?"

I shivered and felt my knees go weak. Luckily he had me pinned against the wall or else I wouldn't be able to stand up straight. His lips softly brushed against my neck. I shivered again.

"You're defenceless against me" he said softly.

I was blushing like crazy. _'What is he doing to me? What's happening?' _I thought. He grinned. I gasped.

"You can still read my mind, can't you?" I asked.

He nodded. That caused me to get a little of my strength back and I banged my head against his. He let me go and stepped back, swearing. I sank to the ground, because I had used up all my strength.

'_I hate you, you know that!'_ I thought. Then I looked up into his eyes again. I thought I saw glint of sadness, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. I stood up so I was right in front of him.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you? Seeing me suffer like this?" I said, but I didn't wait for the answer. I just turned around and walked away. I didn't know where I was going but I didn't care.

"Jen! Wait!" I heard a voice yell. I knew it wasn't Riku so I slowed down. Yuffie caught up to me and asked me what happened. I told her the whole story about what Riku had said and done.

"What did you think, that was so embarrassing, then?" She asked.

"That he was hot" I murmured.

"Oh…That's gotta be embarrassing." She said. "But if you don't like him then why did your knees go weak?" She continued with a big grin.

"I just wanna know why he could still read my mind" I said

"Maybe he's immune to Merlin's spell?" Yuffie suggested.

"Could be…I'm gonna go talk to Aerith" I said and said goodbye to Yuffie. I found Aerith in her room, reading a book.

"Hey" I said. She looked up.

"Hello Jen. What's wrong?" She asked.

I sighed. "Just need someone to talk to" she smiled.

"Then you're at the right place. Come. Sit down." She said pointing at an empty chair. I sat down and she put her book away.

"Now, tell me what's bothering you?" she asked kindly.

"It's just…do you…do you know why Riku's such an asshole to me?...Sorry" I added when Aerith gave me a warning look.

"I don't know. Maybe you should ask him"

"I'm afraid to" I said softly.

"Why are you afraid?"

"I'm afraid because…because he can make me feel so…weak and strange. And I don't know what it is and how he does it."

"I really can't help you with this. You have to figure it out by yourself. Just promise me you'll talk to Riku about this" _'Great. Even Aerith can't help. That's not a good sign'_

"Yeah…I promise I'll talk to Riku" _'Someday_' "Thanks Aer, for hearing me out"

She smiled and went back to reading her book. I left the house and walked around the Second District, wondering whether or not I should talk to Riku. I decided to let it rest 'cause that's what I usually do. After that was done, I didn't know what to do and I started getting bored. Then suddenly someone wrapped its arms around my waist from behind and pulled me against them. I shrieked.

"Ssh" someone whispered in my ear. "It's just me"

"Well that's comforting" I said sarcastically. "What do you want, Riku? I have better things to do"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I can see that. Walking around aimlessly"

"Shut up!" I grumbled. Riku smirked and pulled me closer to him. I could feel his muscles and for some, strange, unknown (to me, that is) reason, I started blushing again.

"Could you let go of me now?" I asked.

"Why? Do you feel uncomfortable around me?" he asked slyly.

"So what if I do?" He turned me around so I was facing him. "What do you want Riku?" I asked again.

"Nothing, I just felt like annoying you." He answered. I sighed.

"Why do you find it so much fun to annoy me. I'm boring"

"You're the only one that reacts to it. If I had done this to Yuffie, she would've beaten me up by now. And I feel that there's something on your mind"

"There's not" I replied quickly.

"Yeah…that sounded very convincing. Come on, tell me. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. Let's just go. It's getting late." I said. Riku, finally, let me go and we went back to the house. Dinner was just ready. But I told them I wasn't hungry. They looked concerned but I just ignored it. I walked into Riku's room, that was my room too now, and I laid down on the bed. I sighed.

'_What's happening to me? I used to be so cheerful. Now I don't want to do anything. And somehow, all I can think of is Riku. It's strange…could I be…? No…no, he's a jerk! I really couldn't be…'_ The door opened.

"Are you asleep?" Riku asked.

"Yes" I answered. I heard him close the door and walk to my side. He sat down.

"Jen? Please tell me what's wrong" he said. I sighed. I had to tell him.

"It's you. You're so confusing. One day you're acting all nice to me and the next you're acting like a jerk. I don't know what to think of you, Riku" I said to him.

"Jen..-"

"No" interrupted him. "just…leave me alone for a while…" He looked sad, but he stood up and left. When the door closed, I sighed again and buried my head in my pillow. Soon I drifted off to sleep.

_There was a field. Full of flowers, in all the colours of the rainbow. And a girl, a young girl. She had long brown hair, tied together in a braid. She had green eyes. She was running through the field, giggling. The scene changed to the same girl, but this time she was standing at a ravine, on a big stone. The girl tried to grab a small flower at the edge. She scooted closer. She almost had it, her fingertips brushed against the flower. And then…she fell. The girl screamed as she fell into the darkness._

_The scene changed again. This time there were two girls talking to each other. The first one had short blond hair and grey eyes. She seemed a little familiar. The other…was me! It was me just a couple years younger. We were both dressed in black. "I can't do it, Amy" I said softly. "I can't bury my sister" I cried. Hard._

_Then suddenly I faded away and found myself at Traverse Town on top of the bell tower. Riku was there too. He stood at the edge. I ran up to him. "Riku? What are you doing?" I asked. He turned around. I gasped. He looked so sad and exhausted. I had never seen him so sad. "I'm sorry Jen. You know I love you. I always will. I just…I can't take it anymore" "What? You can't give up now! You never give up!" I shouted at him. Then I softened my voice. "I can't loose you too" Riku stared back at the ground. He mumbled another 'I'm really sorry' and let himself fall off the tower. "Riku! Riku no!" I yelled. "Don't leave me!"_

"Jen! Jen! wake up!" I opened my eyes.

"Riku?"

"Yeah. I'm here" I sat up straight. Riku was right next to me. I hugged him.

"You're still alive!"

"Of course I am! It was just a dream!" he said. "Come on. Let's go to sleep again." We laid down again and he put an arm around my waist. I felt strangely better and I was glad when I fell asleep again.

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Yay! Another chapter done! This may be the last one for a while. School's starting on monday, so i'll probably be busy. But i'll try to get another chapter as soon as possible. I think the fighting part sucks, though. I'm just not very good at writing fighting parts. Maybe it's because i'm Dutch. i don't know which words to use. Yeah, i'm Dutch. Get used to it. Anyway, review please! Tell me what you think about the fighting part. 

SilverHearts


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After that nightmare I had I couldn't sleep. I woke up every five minutes. All I could think about was how Riku looked when he jumped. Like I gave him so much trouble, he couldn't handle it anymore. It was only then that I remembered the other part of my dream. My sister…she was dead. But for some reason I couldn't help the feeling that something wasn't right. Maybe it wasn't real. After all, it _was_ a dream. I'd have to go ask Merlin later. I turned around so I was facing Riku. He looked so peaceful. I wondered what he was dreaming about. Probably about one of his girlfriends. I found out that he actually has a fan club here in Traverse Town. When I heard I immediately burst out laughing. The others just looked at me. Apparently I was the only one who found it funny. I looked at the alarm clock. It read 7:30.

I quickly got up and put on a shirt and jeans. I grabbed some food that Aerith was making in the kitchen and ran to Merlin's. I even avoided the heartless, which I usually don't do. When I arrived at Merlin's he was already waiting.

"I expected you" he said.

"So you know what it's about?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Oh…Well I had this dream last night…" I told him about the death of my sister but especially about Riku's death. "So what I wanna know is will Riku really die? Could it be some kind of vision?" Merlin didn't even think about it.

"No" he said. "This dream represents your biggest fear. Your fear of losing someone and that you're the cause of it all."

"But why is Riku in it then?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it is because you trust Riku most."

"Oh…well that's…interesting"_ 'Trust Riku? That's funny.'_

"If I answered all your questions you'd better go. You don't want to be late, do you?" Merlin said.

"Late? Oh right! Aerith! I almost forgot. Bye Merlin. Thanks." I said as I ran out of his house.

I had to go shopping with Aerith. I hate shopping. I was kinda forced to go, though. I wasn't prepared for Aerith's shopping mood. It usually means she's gonna force you to buy all sorts of stuff too. Anyway, Cloud, Yuffie, Squall and Riku all had some excuse not to go. Sora was still depressed 'cause Kairi wasn't here. I was the only one without an excuse. So that's how I got myself here. Shopping, with Aerith next to me constantly picking out pink stuff. Don't get me wrong, Aerith is really nice. But when she's in her shopping mood, girls like me should stay away from her.

"Oh! This one looks nice. Let's go in here" Aerith said while pointing at, another, pink store.

The next thing I know I was dragged into the shop. Aerith tried on all kinds of pink skirts. I didn't know there were that many kinds of pink. Then she pulled out a black dress and said

"Isn't this a lovely dress?" I gave her a surprised look.

"Since when do you wear black?"

"Not for me. It's for you" she said. I laughed.

"Me? I'm not gonna wear a dress"

"Oh. Come on. Just try it on"

"No. I don't wear dresses. Ever"

"Please. Just do it for me" I groaned and took the dress from her. I tried it on. It fit perfectly. It was almost like one of those films. You know, when the ugly girl puts on a dress and puts her hair down and then suddenly she's gorgeous. I had to admit: I looked pretty. I shyly walked out of the fitting-room. Aerith stood with her back turned to me.

"Aer?" I asked a little shy. She turned around and gasped.

"Oh dear! You look beautiful!" She said excitedly. Then I noticed Cloud standing next to Aerith. His eyes widened a little.

"This is perfect for the party" Aerith said.

"Party? What party?"

"You don't know? I organized a gala night." Aerith said exclaimed. _'well at least someone's excited' _I thought. "Uh…great…I guess" I said. Cloud didn't look to happy either.

"So when is it?" I asked.

"Tomorrow" Aerith said.

"Tomorrow? How come nobody told me?" I stomped away while muttering "That's just great. I don't even get the chance to prepare"

I changed into my normal clothes and decided to buy the dress since the ball was tomorrow already and I didn't feel like shopping for anything else. The way back home was silent. Well, I was. Aerith was babbling about how she thought it was strange that nobody told me and how beautiful her dress was. I wasn't fully listening. I thought about how Riku would react if he saw me in a dress. I didn't know why I cared, though. I never cared about how anyone thought about me. So why now?

"Jen?"

"Yeah?"

Aerith sighed. "Were you even listening?"

I shrugged. "Not really"

"I said that you need to pick up some things for me at the store"

"What kind of things?" I asked. She explained that she needed some stuff for the gala. But since it was dinner time (Aerith took a _long_ time to find the 'perfect' dress) I ate something first. By the time I finished it was already dark. I was going to go to the store but Squall stopped me.

"You're not going out there alone" he said.

I frowned and sat down again. "Come on. I can take care of myself."

"Leon's right. I really don't feel comfortable with you walking alone when there are heartless roaming the streets. I think Riku should come with you" Aerith said.

"Why me? Why doesn't Leon or Cloud go with her?" Riku asked.

"What? You don't wanna come with me?" I said pretending to be hurt. He smirked.

"Oh but I do. I just didn't think you'd want me to come along. Since you're so uncomfortable around me and all" I cleared my throat and shifted around a bit in my seat. Riku was right. I _was_ uncomfortable around him. But I also enjoyed having him around. It made me feel safe. Maybe Merlin was right. Maybe I did trust Riku the most.

"Well that's settled then" Aerith said with an amused look on her face. I grabbed some money and the list Aerith gave me and walked out the door, not bothering to see if Riku was following me. I was walking to the door to the First District when someone put its arms around my waist, again. First I thought it was Riku. Then he turned me around and I saw some guy. He had brown hair and cold green eyes.

"Hey there" He said.

"Who are you?" I asked as I tried to escape from his grasp.

"Why don't you come with me? We could get to know each other a little better and maybe… have some fun"

"There's no way I'm going with you" I kicked him in the shins. He let me go and I tried to run, but he recovered quickly and grabbed me again.

"Feisty little girl, aren't we?" he whispered. He tried to kiss me but I turned my head away.

"Let go of me! Help!" I screamed. He pinned me against the wall and pushed his lips roughly onto mine. I struggled and tried to kick him or anything to make him let me go. But he didn't stop. He moved his hands up and down my body. He backed away and started kissing my neck and collarbone. I took this chance to yell "help!" again. A little louder this time. He quickly put his hand on my mouth. I couldn't do anything. I closed my eyes.

"Nobody can hear you." He said. "We're all alone" He started lifting my shirt up. Then I heard a noise and I was released. I sank to the ground and opened my eyes. I was never happier to see Riku. From what I could see he knocked the guy out.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Y-yeah…What took you so long?" I asked trying to smile.

"I'm sorry. I had to take care of something" he said as he helped me up. "Did…anything happen?"

"No…you were just in time" I said.

"Good. Come on. Let's get you home"

I adjusted my shirt and walked next to Riku. I felt safe again.

"Why do bad things always happen to me? I swear, it's a miracle that I'm not depressed yet." I said when we got to the house. "Riku? Could you…not mention this to Aerith or any of them?" I could see that he hesitated.

"If that's what you want" I looked in his eyes. I could see he wasn't lying.

"Thanks"

"Hey guys. Where are the things Aerith told you to get?" Yuffie asked when we came in. I looked down.

"We…uh…"

"We ran into someone and by the time we were finished the stores were already closed." Riku helped me out. I shot him a thankful smile. He smiled back.

"Oh…okay" she looked a little sad.

"Um…Yuffie? Can I talk to you for a sec. in private?" I asked her. She looked up and nodded. She stood up and followed me to the next room.

"Is everything alright?" I asked. "You look a little down"

She sighed. "It's nothing"

"Come on, Yuffie. You can tell me."

"It's just…you know about my crush right?" I nodded. "Well…I don't think Squall's noticed me"

I grinned. "I think he did. You know what you should do? Ask him to dance tomorrow" I said excitedly. She grinned.

"I will if you ask Riku." My excitement disappeared immediately.

"W-what?"

"Oh come on. We all know you like him. You and Riku are the only ones that don't" Yuffie said.

"I do not like Rike. But if that's the only way to get you and Leon together, I will ask him tomorrow." I said and kind of stomped out of the room.

'_How dare they think I like Riku'_

'**But maybe you do'**

'_I do not'_

'**Then why do you blush every time he's near and why do you like being with him?'**

'_Because…because we're friends. Besides he acts like a jerk most of the time and he's way_

_too cocky'_

'**Maybe that's what you like about him'**

'_I do not. Great, now I'm talking to my mind'_

Suddenly I felt really tired. I figured Riku was already asleep so I went to 'our' room. I still found it weird that I had to sleep in the same room as him. But Aerith wanted to be with Cloud and she wanted Yuffie to be with Squall and Sora…well he just wanted to be alone with his memories about Kairi. And so I was dumped at Riku's. I walked into the room and found that Riku was already asleep, like I thought. I changed and sat down in a chair. I watched Riku for a while. He looked so handsome when he was sleeping. I was so caught up in staring at him that I didn't notice he'd opened his eyes and was looking back at me.

"Like what you see?" he smirked. I cleared my throat and stood up.

"Sorry" I said, walked to the bed and crawled under the blankets. He turned around and faced me.

"You didn't answer the question" he said.

"You know I do. Can I go to sleep now?"

Riku smirked. "Sure"

We were silent. Then I realized something.

"So…Are you gonna wear a suit tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? What about you? Did Aerith force you into wearing a dress?"

"Yeah…kinda. But I actually like my dress"

"Whoa. Jen and dresses. Never thought I'd see the day" I smiled.

"Do you think I should tell them what happened?" I asked Riku.

"I don't know. If you don't want to tell them then don't. But they'll find out eventually"

"I know. But I think I'm gonna wait a while." I grinned and rolled on top of Riku.

"So Riku…have you dated any girls from your fan-club yet?" I asked.

"I have a fan-club? I bet you joined it." I smiled.

"Of course I did. I'm your biggest fan!" I started poking his stomach.

"You do need to lose some weight. You're getting a little fat" he groaned.

"Cut it out. That tickles"

"Oh so you're a little ticklish?" I started tickling him. He laughed and tried to get me off him. And since he's way stronger than I am he rolled around so he was on top of _me_. He started tickling me now and I tried to get _him_ off me. Then he stopped. My stomach hurt from all the laughing. He looked at me. I started blushing again. _'Why do I blush so much?' _He leaned in until he was very close. His lips brushed against mine. Then someone knocked on the door. I quickly threw Riku off me.

"Could you be quiet? Some people are actually trying to sleep!" Cloud yelled. My heart was pounding really fast. I got up and waked to the bathroom so Riku couldn't hear my thoughts.

'_Was he trying to kiss me? He was, wasn't he? But does that mean he likes me? Or is he just playing with me? I'm so confused!'_

I walked to the sink and threw some water on my face. I went back to the bedroom and crawled under the blankets again. Riku was silent, I was silent and I fell asleep quickly.

* * *

Sorry about the late update. But I'll probably update another chapter this week. I hope you like this one and of course: Review!

SilverHearts


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I woke up late and immediately remembered that today was the ball. I groaned and slowly sat up. I noticed Riku was already up. I stepped into the bathroom and got changed into my usual jeans and t-shirt. When I came into the living room I saw everyone except Riku and Aerith quickly eating and then disappearing out of the house. Aerith was cleaning up everyone's breakfast while humming a song and Riku was just sitting there, looking deep in thought. I noticed that he looked like he hadn't slept in months. Could it be because…? Nah…it had to be something else.

"Good morning, Jen" Aerith said. "Would you like some tea?" 

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."

Aerith nodded and went into the kitchen. Riku still hadn't noticed me. Or at least he didn't look at me. He was just staring at his plate like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Interesting plate?" I asked him. He looked up at me and then looked at his plate again.

"Very"

"Okay then…" I said slowly. He sighed.

"Look Jen. I need to tell you something-…"

"I got your tea!" Aerith said walking in with a tray. Riku sighed again.

"I gotta go do something" he said, sounding very depressed and walked away as I looked after  
him.

"What's wrong with him?" Aerith asked.

"Dunno…" I said trying to think of something that could be wrong with him. Then I shook it off. "Anyway, do you need help with the party?"

"Now that you mention it, I could use some help with the decoration."

"I'm on it!" Aerith told me where I needed to go and what to do. She also told me that there already was a girl helping out and who was surprising someone tonight. I just hoped it wasn't Riku. So I went to this room they called a 'ballroom'. Basically it was just a big bar, but they moved all the chairs and tables to the side so there was where you could dance, and when you got tired you could sit at the side. As Aerith had mentioned there was a girl with red hair and blue eyes standing on a ladder, trying real hard to hang up some big blue thingy. I had no idea what it was supposed to be, not that I really cared.

"Need some help?" I asked. She looked down at me.

"Oh! Yes please." I grabbed another ladder and helped her hang it up. We decorated the place with some more blue and white things. We got to talking and time flew by. By the time we were done the place looked absolutely beautiful. Just then Aerith came in.

"Wow! It looks amazing, girls" She said looking around.

"Thanks! We worked real hard on it." The girl said.

"Well, you did a great job, Kairi"

"Kairi? As in the Kairi Sora talks about all the time?" I asked.

"That's me. Does he really talk about me that much?"

"Yeah. He's totally in love with you!"

"eh… we should get dressed. We only have an hour left." She said quickly, trying to cover her blush.

"An hour is enough for me." I said. We quickly walked back to the house, because Kairi told us she needed her time for make-up and stuff. Unfortunately, when we arrived, Sora saw Kairi. So the surprise was kind of ruined. But it _was_ fun to watch Sora run up to Kairi and kiss her. I decided to give them some privacy and went into my room. I pulled my dress out of the closet and put it on. It really was a beautiful dress. It was a black, strapless dress that went to just below my knee and had a little split. I put on a necklace with an emerald stone that I had since I was a child. I also put on my shoes that were also black. Lastly I put up my hair. Then someone knocked on the door.

"Jen? Are you ready? We gotta go!" I heard Yuffie's voice yell. I opened the door and saw Yuffie in a dark green dress, Aerith in her pink dress and Kairi in a red dress that matched her hair.

"Whoa! You guys look great." I said.

"You don't look to bad yourself." Kairi said as we walked out the door. On the way to the 'ballroom' we talked about how weird it would be to see the guys in suits. When we arrived the guys were standing next to each other talking each wearing a black suit. Kairi cleared her throat. They looked at us and it was like their eyes would pop out. But I noticed that someone was missing.

_'Riku's not here'_ I thought. Yuffie, Aerith and Kairi walked up to their 'partners' and were lead into the room. I slowly followed them. When we were inside I asked them if they knew where Riku was.

"No. He said he would come later." Sora said.

"Oh…okay." A slow song started and they all left to dance. Even Yuffie and Squall. I sat down and looked around. There were a lot of people. I didn't even know there were these many people in Traverse Town. A guy walked up to me and asked me to dance, but I refused. I felt alone and someone I also felt like there was something wrong with Riku. He wouldn't just not show up at something Aerith had worked so hard on to organize. It just wasn't like him. So I stood up and was on my way out when I heard Sora call me.

"Jen? Where are you going?" he asked.

"I think something's wrong with Riku" I answered. He looked confused.

"Why would you think that?"

"I…don't know. I just…feel it, I guess."

"Alright then, let's go check it out."

"No that's alright. You really don't have to do that. Just go dance with Kairi. I'll do this alone." I said. He shook his head.

"No, I won't let you go alone. Kairi will be fine. But you on the other hand, with all those heartless around, I can't let you go by yourself. Riku would kill me." I nodded and walked out. We looked around the Third District first, but there was nobody except for some homeless people. Then we used that door to go to the First District. When we got there I saw Riku standing at the World Exit with…I looked closer…a really tall woman who looked a little greenish with a black robe on.

"Oh my god…" Sora said quietly. "That's Maleficent!" I gasped.

"Maleficent? But isn't she, like…evil? What is Riku doing with her?" Suddenly Sora ran up to them. I followed him and we stopped at a safe distance, just in case.

"Riku? What are you doing?" I asked. Riku looked in my eyes and I could hear myself gasping, but I didn't notice because I was too stunned. Riku's eyes were…black. I slowly stepped back. Maleficent smiled evilly.

"It's too late. He's mine…Again." She smiled triumphantly.

"No…" I felt tears forming in my eyes. Sora yelled and attacked her, but she blew him away with a force like it was nothing. I stared at Riku, completely stunned. Maleficent opened a black portal and grabbed Riku's arm.

"No!" I yelled and ran to Riku, only to be blown away by the same force. I flew into a wall and sank to the ground. I looked up and saw Riku disappear through the portal. I pulled up my knees and started crying.

_'How could I have let this happen? Oh god! I'm so stupid! This was what he was trying to tell me!'_ That's when I finally realized it. But now it was too late.

"Jen? Are you alright?" Sora asked.

"This is all my fault! How could I have let this happen?" I sobbed. Sora kneeled down next to me.

"This is not your fault. Maleficent was too strong. But why? Why is she even still alive?" Sora stood up and offered me his hand. "Come on, we have to tell the others" I took his hand and got up.

"We'll get him back, Jen. I promise." We quickly walked back to the ballroom where the others were still dancing. But they stopped when they saw us coming in, all bruised and with red eyes.

"What happened?" Yuffie asked.

"Maleficent…she was here. She took Riku, damn it!" They gasped.

"I thought you killed her." Squall said calmly.

"I know. I thought so, too. But she's back and she's gotten a lot stronger."

"How can you stay so calm? Riku's gone! We have to get him back, now!" I yelled. I noticed people staring, but I didn't care. I turned around and ran away. I didn't know where I was going 'till I found myself at our room. I opened the door and stepped inside. I sat down on the bed. All Riku's stuff. I found myself starting to cry again.

"No! No crying. Crying won't get Riku back." I said as I wiped away the tears. "If he's under Maleficent's control then I'll just have to kill her. So that means…train! Everyday. Don't show any weakness…" Someone knocked on the door and entered. It were Kairi and Aerith.

"Hey, are you alright?" Aerith asked me.

"I'm okay. Do you know when they decided to leave?"

"I think they said in three days." Kairi said.

"Good. Enough time to train. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some tough days ahead so I need all the sleep that I can get." They looked at each other surprised but then nodded and left the room. I lay down and tried my hardest not to cry, but with Riku missing next to me that wasn't easy. But I had to get through this. I had to defeat Maleficent. For Riku's sake.

_What is a flower that never blooms?  
What's the night sky without it's moon?  
If I'm the music you're the tune  
Don't hear a sound here without you…_

* * *

Again, sorry for the late update. I was a little busier than I thought I'd be. To tell you the truth, I wasn't planning on updating at all. But I was bored so...why not write another chappy! But if you guys would just REVIEW more, I might update sooner. For the ones that do update: Thanks so much! You make me write more chapters!  
So...R&R peoples! 

SilverHearts


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next two days I woke up early and just started training all day long with strength I never even knew I had. I found out that I could use magic all along. After an hour or so, I had defeated every single heartless in town and would ask other people to spar with me. I asked them not to hold back on me because I knew Maleficent wouldn't either.

The third day I was fighting Leon in the Third District, preparing to leave. I was doing fairly well when he suddenly shot at me with his Gunblade and I knew that I wouldn't be able to block it in time. But then a fireball came out of nowhere and they exploded against each other.

When the smoke cleared I saw that Leon was knocked out on the ground. I turned around and saw a guy standing behind me. He had a black robe on, like Riku's, red hair and green eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked. He smirked and walked up to me. I took a couple steps back, but not too much. I didn't want him to think I was scared or anything.

"I'm Axel. Nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you." He said.

"What? Do you work for Maleficent or something?" He chuckled.

"Oh no. Maleficent works for _me_."

"What have you done to Riku?"

"Riku's fine." He answered walking closer to me again.

"Where is he?"

"You ask too many questions." He answered looking bored. He took out his weapons that were two rings with spikes attached to it. "You're coming with me"

"No way!" I yelled.

"Yeah…that's what I thought. Why doesn't anybody ever come voluntarily?" He sighed. Then he rushed at me and tried to hit me with one of his rings, but I blocked it. Then another sword formed in my other hand as he slashed at me with his other ring. Axel looked at it and smiled.

"So I was right"

"Jen!" Someone screamed. I pushed Axel away and did a back flip. I looked up to where the screaming came from and saw Sora with Cloud next to him. Cloud jumped down and started attacking Axel. I ran over to Leon who was just waking up.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. He nodded at me and sat up. All of sudden I felt a terrible headache. Something I had never felt before. It was like my head was being split open. I grabbed my head and screamed. I fell to my knees and looked at Axel. He was smirking at me while easily blocking Cloud's attacks. The pain was incredible. Then it stopped. But not only did I not feel my head anymore, I felt nothing. It was like I was a ghost in my own body. I tried to scream, but there was no sound. I couldn't do anything. Suddenly my body started attacking Leon. He jumped to the side.

"Whoa! Jen, what are you doing?" He said while dodging more of my attacks. I didn't know what to do. How could I tell them that Axel had taken over my mind? Then I got an idea. If I could read people's minds then maybe I could talk in their minds too. So I concentrated on saying 'Axel is taking over my mind, distract him'. Then I tried to send it to Leon's mind. I concentrated as best as I could. Suddenly I saw a look of confusion on Leon's face and then understanding. I wanted to sigh in relief, but then I realized I couldn't. Then I heard a voice in my head. Axel's voice.

**_'So Riku's your little lover boy, eh?'  
_**

'_He's not my lover boy!' _

**'Really? Then why did you cry when he left?'**

'_How did y-…err…What did you do to him?'_

'_**I didn't do anything.'**_

'_Yeah right. Like I would believe that'_

'_**Look, I'll take you and your friends to him and you can see for yourself…'**_

'_Wh-'  
_

Before I could even finish my thoughts, we were engulfed in a huge white light and I could feel my body being pulled into it. When I could see again I saw that Leon, Cloud, Sora and I weren't in Traverse Town anymore and I could move my body myself again. I looked around. We were in front of a huge castle. It looked dark and had the Heartless sign on it. It felt strangely familiar to me.

"Hollow Bastion" Sora said softly. I ran up to the door, surprised that we weren't attacked by heartless. When I realized the others weren't following me, I turned around and saw that they were all fighting heartless. _'hmm…that's strange'_

I ran up to them and they just looked at me and disappeared.

"Now that's what I call weird." I said. "Hey guys, did you ever wonder how I got this thing?" I continued waving with my newfound blade. They looked at it.

"That's a keyblade! Where did you get it?" Sora asked. I shrugged.

"It just materialized in my hand when I was fighting Axel"

"We need to get going" Cloud said no longer paying any attention to the keyblade. "We'll find the answers inside."

"Okay let's go" I said. I tried to open the door by pushing against it with my shoulder, but it was too heavy.

"Jen" Sora said, apparently trying to contain his laughter.

"What?" I asked annoyed that he was laughing at me. He just pointed at a red button on the wall.

"Oh…a button" I walked up to it and pushed it. The door slowly creaked open. I blushed a little in embarrassment. "How was I supposed to know it was that easy." I muttered as I stepped inside. When we were all inside, an old man walked up to me and bowed. He was wrinkled and the little hair he still had was grey. He had brown eyes and looked extremely tired.

"Hello miss. Welcome to Hollow Bastion. You've been expected. Please, follow me." The man said.

"Err…Right…Okay" I looked at the others. They looked as surprised as I was. We went up some stairs and down a long hallway, up with some elevators and again down a long hallway. It was all dark and there were portraits of really ugly men and women on the walls, all resembling Maleficent. It was rather scary actually.

"Oh so _that's_ why Maleficent's so ugly" I said. Sora laughed. "But why are they here? It's not like Maleficent's parents ruled this place, right?" I said as an afterthought.

"No" Leon said. "Ansem did."

"Wait…what? As in the-guy-that-possessed-Riku-Ansem?" I asked amazed. Sora looked sad.

"Yeah…That one. Fortunately, he's gone, I think." He said. I stopped walking.

"You think? What do you mean you think?" I demanded. Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well…uh…I defeated Maleficent too, right? And she came back. So there might be a…possibility that…eh…Ansem's back too."

"But-…"

"Excuse me, Milady." I blinked and looked at the grey-haired man. I forgot that he was here too.

"Yes?" I asked. He pointed to a HUGE door that went all the way up to the ceiling, which was really high.

"We've arrived at Milady Maleficent's room" he said.

"Okay…And what exactly are we doing here?" The man gave me a confused look.

"Surely you must know. Milady Maleficent wishes to murder you and take the keyblades."  
That took me by surprise. I mean…of course I knew Maleficent wanted to kill us and take the keyblade, but I never expected such a…dignified man to say it like that.

"Then why didn't she just catch us by surprise. Like when she was coming to get Riku. She could've easily taken us out then." The man cleared his throat.

"Milady Maleficent can only kill someone when Milady Maleficent has been challenge by said person. Else she would cease to exist." He said.

"And how is that a bad thing?" I asked. The old man glared at me. He actually _glared_ at me.

"You shall not say those things about Milady Maleficent." I laughed.

"What are you going to do? Use your super strength on us?" I taunted. He glared at me even more and opened the huge door. He threw us in with a big gust of wind. Leon and Cloud landed neatly on their feet, Sora landed on his back and I…I flew against a wall face first…I fell backwards onto the ground and groaned.

"Oww. He did that on purpose…"

"You think?" Leon retorted. I stood up and dusted myself off. I walked towards Sora who had gotten up by then.

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

"We wait" Sora answered. "Maleficent will show up soon.

"Good." I looked around the room. It was huge! Just like every other place in that castle. And, of course, dark. There were big windows that were open. Wind flew through it. It was like someone was whispering. I shivered, it creeped me out. Wait…there _was_ someone whispering. I turned around and saw Sora look at me and quickly stop talking.

"Talking about me, are you?" I smiled. Sora looked away uncomfortable.

"Err…no. Just…discussing our strategy."

"Right…sure." I decided to leave it at that. I looked at the room again. It was fairly empty. There were two black chairs in the left corner. A bed was placed in the middle of the room with black covers. The wall was painted a dark brown and the carpet was also dark brown. It didn't fit together, but it was still exactly what I had expected of someone like Maleficent. What surprised me was that there was a door across from us. It was, strangely, white. On it was written in graceful letters: Veni, Vidi, Vici. _'You wish'_ I thought overconfident. I had been my old self again: overconfident and always happy. Though that didn't last long as the white door opened. Maleficent stepped through. She looked tired.

"Ah Jen. Nice to meet you. Though I wish it were under better circumstances." She said to me. "I assume my husband has told you why you're here?" If it were possible my jaw would've dropped to the ground at that comment.

"_That_ was your husband? He seemed more like your _servant_ to me. By the way, from the stories I've heard about you I didn't even know you were capable of loving someone, much less any other emotions besides hate. Unless you don't love him of course. Maybe you're just using him as your slave. Do you even know his name? And why does he keep calling you Milady? And-…"

"Jen!" Sora yelled. I blinked at him and then realized what I had been doing.

"Right…Sorry." All this time Maleficent was just standing there seeming more tired by the minute.

"Are you done?" She asked me. I nodded. "Then let's get this over with. I don't ever want to see your ugly faces again."

"Hey! I'm not ugly! Right?" I said as I looked at the others. They were giving me a who-cares-let's-just-kill-her look. I stepped forward a bit so I was in front of the guys and pulled out my new keyblade. I got in fighting position.

"Are you ready to do this, guys?" Sora said. I was about to respond that I wasn't a guy when something hard hit me on the back of my head. I started falling backwards. I only heard Sora say "Sorry Jen, we wanna make sure you don't die before…" and then I blacked out.

* * *

And another chapter done. I hope you liked it. Tell me what you think. The story will probably be about 10 chapters total. I'm not sure if I'll do a sequel, though.  
Anyway: R&R as always!  
  
SilverHearts 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I woke up with a terrible headache. I groaned and sat up. I looked around trying to remember what had happened. I was in a long hallway in front of a door. On the walls were portraits. _'Right…Maleficent' _I thought. I noticed that the door was the same door that had lead to Maleficent's room. Sora and the others probably dragged me out after he knocked me out. He knocked me out! I felt my anger rising as I walked over to the door. I tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. _'Probably locked it, too' _I couldn't believe they actually knocked me out. Even though they'll probably say it's 'for my own good', I just…wanted to kill her so bad for taking Riku. I listened at the door. I could hear them fighting. I heard weapons clashing and a loud roar. Wait, a roar? I started pounding on the door.

"Open up!" I yelled. Strangely it opened after a while. Sora stood there with a cheesy grin on his face. He only had some minor injuries, like burns.

"YOU!" I started. "You knocked me out!" Then I noticed something behind him.

"W-what's that?" I asked semi-scared. Sora turned around and looked, then turned back to me.

"That's Maleficent" He said. I shook my head.

"No. That's a friggin' dragon, that's what it is! What happened?" I asked forgetting for a second that this was the guy that knocked me out.

"Maleficent turned into a dragon after we knocked you out, like last time I fought her, and then we beat her." He answered. Then Leon and Cloud appeared. They didn't seem to have any scratches at all.

"Hey guys" I said.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah. Except for the fact that you guys knocked me out before I could brutally murder that-…"

"We had to" Sora interrupted. "We didn't want you to die before you got the chance to see Riku."

"Oh so after I see Riku, you don't care if I die, is that what you're saying?"

"No no, of course not. I just mean that…" Luckily for Sora dragon-Maleficent turned back into normal-Maleficent then. We quickly walked up to her.

"What did you do to Riku?" I demanded. She grinned evilly.

"I didn't…do…anything"

"Yeah you did! You're controlling him aren't you? Well when you're dead that'll be over and we'll get him back." I said.

"Killing…me isn't…going to make…Riku…come back. I…only…unlocked…the darkness…that was already inside…him"

"But that would've made him able to make his own decisions and he wasn't. So tell me: If you're not controlling him, then who is?" She laughed again and coughed up some blood.

"You'll probably…never…know" Sora roughly put his foot against her throat.

"TELL US!" He yelled.

"Al…right alright…it's…it's Axel." She laughed one last time and let out her last breath. Her body started glowing a strange red glow and dissolved.

"Axel? But he told me he didn't do anything to him." I said.

"Guys like that aren't exactly known for telling the truth." Sora said.

"Yeah I know. But he said he'd take us to him so we could see for ourselves…Why would he say that if it weren't true? Why go trough all the trouble of getting us here and even letting us kill Maleficent, 'cause he knew we'd be able to do that, why go trough all of that if he didn't have anything to show us?"

"Maybe Axel knew something Maleficent didn't." Cloud said.

"Could be…"

"Err…guys?" Sora said. He was standing at the door. Maleficent's husband came back and he had this strange look on his face.

"Y-you killed her?" he said.

"Err…Yeah…sorry, mate. Couldn't exactly let her kill us" He didn't seem to hear me.

"Does that mean I'm…free?" He started…smiling. I blinked in surprise.

"Err…free?" Then all of a sudden he started jumping and dancing through the room yelling 'I'm free! I'm free!'

"Hey. Hey! HEY!" I yelled. He stopped and looked at me. "Could you tell us where Riku is?"

"Of course, Milady. That's the least I can do for you." He said and bowed. He walked out the room and we followed him. We went back the way we came. While walking I asked the others

"What if we can't get Riku back to normal? What if he'll always be evil? What if…I can't tell him how I feel?" Sora laughed.

"We'll get him back to normal. You guys belong together. You're like…meant to be!" He said.

"Maybe…"

The rest of the way back was silent. I thought about what Sora had said and started convincing myself that Riku'd be normal again. Suddenly we were back at the main hall. In our rush I never noticed how many doors there were the first time we were there.

"Here you are" The man said.

"Right…so…err which door do we take?" I asked. The man gave me a surprised look.

"Ask the keyblade" he said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"The Keyblade? Okay…Sora?" Sora conjured his keyblade and just looked at it.

"Now what?" he asked.

"Nonono, not that one. Yours!" The man said pointing at me.

"This one?" I asked and conjured my newfound blade. The man took a couple steps back.

"That's it. The Royal Keyblade…"

"Royal? I'm not Royal, I think"

"I'm not mistaken, Milady. Milady Maleficent showed me the Royal Keyblade one time and I am sure that this is the one. Just trust your instincts Milady"

I took a close look at the Keyblade once more. It was black with a silver crown at the end.

"Trust my instincts, huh?" I said.

"Yes. Or just follow the noise." Just then a big crash sounded from one of the doors. I snickered. Sora looked at me strange.

"What? It was funny!" I said. "It came from this one." I continued pointing at the leftmost door.

"Are you sure?" Sora asked while I walked up to it.

"We're about to find out." I turned around and bowed to the old man. "Thanks for helping us." I turned back to the door and put my hand on the doorknob. "Ready?" I asked the others, though I didn't wait for the answer and just opened the door. The first thing I noticed was that there were glass cages, empty luckily, on either side of the room.

"That's where Maleficent kept the Princesses." Sora said noticing my look. Just then we heard another crash.

"At least we know we're in the right room" I said. Then I ran forward up the stairs. That's when I saw him. Riku was facing a big hole in the wall.

"Riku!" I started running up to him, but stopped when I heard a voice.

"Jen! Stay away from him! He's dangerous!" someone yelled from inside the hole. I looked up at it and suddenly I heard a voice.

'_you obtained the power to heal. Full-Cure.'_

I ignored it and saw a girl limp out of the hole. Suddenly a green glow surrounded her and disappeared again. She stood up straight and jumped out of the hole in front of me. She had short black hair and brown eyes. Her jeans and brown t-shirt were half torn. Then Riku faced us.

"Hello Jen. I've been expecting you." He said. He still looked like the same Riku, except for one thing. His eyes…they were cold. I used to love his eyes, but now they were scaring me. I ignored the girl completely and walked up to Riku. I stopped right in front of him.

"What has he done to you? You have to snap out of it! You have to come back!" Riku laughed evilly. He put his hand against my stomach.

"Nobody tells me what to do" His hand started glowing and I got knocked away. Riku disappeared into a black portal as I landed in front of Sora's feet. He helped me up.

"Are you okay?" He asked me.

"Physically: Yes, Emotionally: Not really." I answered. The girl ran up to us.

"See? I told you to stay away from him." She said. I looked at her.

"Who the hell are you?" She looked shocked.

"Who am I? I know we haven't seen each other since like forever, but that's not a reason to forget your best friend!"

"My what?"

* * *

Chapter 9 finished! Only one more chapter and an epilogue. I'm still not sure about the sequel, but you'll know soon enough.  
For now: Review!

SilverHearts


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Yeah. Your best friend. You really don't remember me?" I looked down at my feet sadly.

"No. I didn't remember anything, except my name and age, when I came here. Anyway, what's your name?"

"Oh right, of course. My name is Ruby."

"Ruby? Doesn't ring a bell." I said. "Anyway, can we do this some other time? I need to find Riku first."

"Oh right. You're in love with the guy." My eyes widened.

"How did you know about that?" I asked.

"I know everything about you." Ruby said with a straight face, which made it sound very creepy.

"Okay. That sounds really freaky." I turned around. "Let's find Riku"

"Don't bother" A voice said. I quickly turned around.

"Riku! Wait…Didn't you just leave? That doesn't make any sense."

"He told me to eliminate you. Not that I have to explain anything to you." He said cocky as ever. That made me make up my mind.

"Fine" I said as I walked up to him again. I stopped mere inches away from him.

"Eliminate me" I said softly.

"Jen! Are you crazy?" Sora yelled. Riku smirked.

"As you wish" His dark keyblade materialized in his hand. Meanwhile I summoned my keyblade too. He brought down his keyblade, but I blocked it with mine. He looked shocked, but just for a second. Then he smirked again and leaned his face closer to mine.

"Isn't this familiar?" he said. I blushed as I remembered the last time we'd fought. "Just like the old days. I hope you're not as weak now as you were then. It really wouldn't be any fun bringing you down that way."

"Jen!" Sora yelled again as they ran up to us.

"No!" I yelled. "Stay back! I have to do this on my own." They stopped hesitantly. Riku smirked yet again.

"This is gonna be even easier than I thought. Pity really, I was hoping for a good fight." He said and immediately afterwards he slashed at me but I dodged. I did a quick somersault over him and slashed at his back, but he was quick and blocked it. He tried to hit me again, but I continued blocking his attacks only to be hit by his elbow. I could feel my nose breaking. I wiped off the blood and took a couple steps back, waiting for him to attack.

"You've gotten better." He said. "But you can never beat me." Suddenly the whole room turned black and Riku started running all over the place very quickly slashing at me as he passed. Then he jumped up and stuck his keyblade in the ground. What seemed like green electricity came out of the ground. I dropped to my knees. Riku walked up to me and kicked me in the stomach. I rolled on my back in pain. Riku stood over me. I look into his, still cold, eyes. He kneeled down next to me.

"Any last words?" He said smirking.

"Yeah…I like you. A lot" I said. _'How very cliché'_ I thought.

"How cute. It really is a shame that you have to die." He took my chin in his hand. "You would have made a fine-…" Suddenly he coughed and I saw his eyes turn red and then to his normal color again, but now they weren't cold anymore. He took a few steps back and fell backwards. I suddenly remembered my healing power.

"Full-Cure" I whispered. A green glow surrounded me and I could feel my wounds heal. I stood up quickly, ran over to Riku and kneeled down next to him. His eyes were closed.

"Riku?" Meanwhile the others had joined me. I could feel the tears filling my eyes.

"Is he…?" Sora asked.

"Crying over me again, aren't you?" Riku suddenly said. I gasped.

"No…" I said softly. "So…what happened anyway? First you wanted to kill me and then you just…fell."

"I'm not sure." Riku said standing up. "Axel would probably know."

"So he _did_ control you"

"I don't know. I'm just saying that he would know. Let's go ask him"

"Shouldn't you rest first? You're only just back to yourself again." I said.

"No. Axel will be gone by the time we get there. We have to go now." Riku said getting serious. "I'm touched by your concern, though." He continued with a smirk.

"I'm not concerned…" I muttered. Ruby cleared her throat and everybody looked at her.

"Shall we go then?" She said with a weird look in her eyes. It felt like something was wrong. Like when you watch a horror movie and you just _know_ that something's going to happen.

"Who are you?" Riku asked.

"Oh right. You didn't meet her. Apparently she's from my world and my best friend. Her name's Ruby."

"Did she tell you anything about why you got amnesia?" Riku asked me like Ruby wasn't even there.

"No, we didn't really have a chance to talk, because you showed up again."

"Right. That was an interesting fight by the way. You've really improved."

"Thanks! I'll ask her when we're done here, by the way. " I said.

"Guys! We really have to go. Riku, do you know where Axel might be?" Sora asked.

"Yeah. He's next door." For some reason I felt really oppressed when we walked over to the next door.

"Scared?" Riku asked me with a smirk. I glared at him.

"No! I just…have a really bad feeling about this." I answered.

"Don't worry. We're in majority. What's the worst that could happen?"

"We could all get killed! I don't know how strong this guy is"

"We won't get killed. You have people here to protect you." I snorted.

"Like who? The guy that knocked me out? The guys that didn't stop the guy that knocked me out? The girl that just showed up and claims to be my best friend, which I can't be sure of because I have no memories? Who?" I said panicking.

"Like me." My eyes widened as I looked at Riku. He was serious.

"Thanks…I just hope that's enough, then"

"Is everybody ready? Great. We'll go in first." Sora said pointing at Cloud, Leon and himself. "You three stay behind us."

"Hey! I can fight too, you know!" Ruby said.

"Yes. I know. But Axel is stronger than Riku. No offense, Riku." Sora said.

"None taken."

"We don't want anyone getting killed here, okay" Sora continued.

"Fine."

"Okay. Let's get him!" Leon kicked open the door and the three of them walked inside. They looked around and stopped to look at something I couldn't see.

"Okay guys. Let's get out of here." Sora said.

"What!" I exclaimed. "But we came here to kill Axel."

"I don't think that's necessary anymore."

"What are you talking about? Of course that's necessary! The bloody bastard took Riku! What did you see?" I tried to get past them, but they blocked my path.

"I really don't think you wanna see this." Sora said.

"I decide what I wanna see for myself." I succeeded at pushing past them and looked into the direction that they had been looking at. I gasped. There lay Axel. He was dead alright. He looked like he was attacked by some horrible monster. There were deep cuts and gashes everywhere with blood pouring out. I turned back around and tried not to vomit. I saw that Ruby had a blank look on her face. Like she didn't really care about all this. She saw me looking and put a concerned look on her face. I gave her a confused look and turned my attention back to the others.

"Who did this?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know." Sora said. When I got my voice back I said what everybody was thinking.

"We're probably better off not knowing. Someone…Some_thing _that can do this…" I trailed off.

"Let's get out off here." Sora said again. When we walked back into the hallway Riku stopped me.

"You guys go ahead. I need to talk to Jen for a sec." He said. The others nodded and walked out the huge door where we had entered the castle. I looked at Riku.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Um…Are you alright?" I laughed.

"You? Worried about me? Never thought I'd see the day."

"I'm serious." He said sternly. The smile on my face disappeared.

"Yeah…I guess so." I said as I leaned against the wall. "Is this why you held me back?"

"No…not exactly…" He said. "What you said earlier, when I was still…well evil, did you mean that?"

"Um…yeah…I did." I stammered and blushed. Riku smirked and stepped closer.

"Well then…do you mind?" he said as he leaned forward.

"N-not really…"

I could feel his breath on my lips and I closer my eyes as his lips softly brushed against mine, which send a shiver down my spine. He kissed me softly on my lips and put his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. I put my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss as I pressed myself as close to him as humanly possible. Suddenly a golden glow surrounded us and I could feel the memories pouring into my head. I gasped and slowly broke away from Riku.

"What is it?" Riku breathed.

"I remember…I remember everything!"

* * *

Second to last chapter... Next chapter is an epilogue!  
R&R!

SilverHearts


	11. Chapter 11

Epilogue

_Forget me not, I ask of you  
__Wherever your life takes you to_

Shirts…check. Pants…check. Socks…check. That's about it, I guess. I was packing my stuff, in case you didn't notice. Yeah…I was leaving. I had to since what happened after Riku and I kissed…

Flashback

"I remember…I remember everything!"

"Are you serious?" Riku asked unbelievingly. I ran out the door.

"Is it true?" I yelled at Ruby. "Is it true that I come from Earth where all this is just a videogame?" She looked shocked for a moment and then slowly nodded. I dropped to my knees. I remembered…

I was playing Kingdom Hearts and suddenly a voice sounded through my TV. 'You are the one that has been chosen to enter Kingdom Hearts. You will remember nothing about your old life. You will return when the right time comes…' I remember being so confused. I didn't understand what was going on. I knew that I was given the chance to go inside the videogame, though. So I did. I never let anyone know. I just packed a bag and went. My parents…they had to be worried sick about me…I had to go back.

_And if we never meet again  
__Think of me every now and then_

"How did you get here?" I asked Ruby. She started looking a little uncomfortable.

"I…err…went to your room…'cause your mum said you'd be there and then…I…saw your controller. I picked it up and there was this huge white light. And then I was here." She answered. She was acting a bit strange, I noticed.

"I still don't remember you" I said sadly. Ruby looked even more uncomfortable after I said that.

"Well…err…that's a shame. But we'll get to know each other again when we're home. Your parents are probably worried about you. You have to go back." I stood up and nodded.

"I know, but I can't…I like it here…my friends are here."

"I think Ruby's right, Jen" Riku said.

"What? You want me to leave?" I asked shocked.

"No! Of course not! But there are people who need you there. I think you should go home."

End Flashback

_We had just one day to recall  
__Now all I want is something more_

'_Home…this is my home now. But he's right. I have to go.' _I thought I grabbed my bag and walked out the door. I took one last look around the house and sighed. I knew I was going to miss it. Aerith always cooking in the kitchen…The room I had shared with Riku... I walked outside and as I walked to the door to the First District I also took one last glance at the Second District. When I got to the First District everyone was already there, waiting for me. To say goodbye…goodbye…I would never see them again. I really wasn't sure if I could do this. But I had no choice.

"Hey guys" I said sadly. Aerith and Kairi were crying softly. I couldn't see Riku's face 'cause he had his back turned to me. The others, including Ruby, just stood there, but I knew they were sad to, even though they didn't show it. I dropped my bag and walked over to Aerith. As I hugged her she started crying harder.

"I'm going to miss you, Aerith. And your breakfast!" She gave me a small smile as she let me go. She pulled out a basket.

"I put some food in here for your trip" She said.

"Thanks." I said a little hoarse and I felt my eyes watering up. I took the basket and walked over to Kairi.

_Than just a fading memory  
__Left wondering what could have been_

"I know we haven't known each other that long, but it feels like forever. It was really nice to meet you." I also hugged her. Then I moved on to Yuffie.

"I don't know if you'll need it there, but I want you to have these" She said as she handed me some of her shurikens. I was crying now.

"Thanks Yuff. It was great having you around. You were one of my best friends and still are." I hugged her tight. I sighed…Sora.

"Sora…thanks so much for helping bring back Riku. I will never forget it." I hugged him and whispered in his ear, "Take good care of Kairi. I can feel that she cares about you a lot." As I let him go I noticed a small blush spreading on his cheeks.

_Isn't it a shame?  
__That the timing's all wrong  
__You're doing what you never meant to  
__There's always something that prevents you_

"Leon, Cloud. Thank you too for helping at Hollow Bastion. The past weeks that I've stayed here made me consider you as…kind of my big brothers." They smiled a little. "Thanks for looking out for me." I ended. I thought it would be a little awkward to hug them, but, to my surprise, they hugged me! I smiled and took a deep breath before I walked over to Riku.

I put my hand on his shoulder. He turned and I saw his tear-stained face. I put my arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. When I was in need of oxygen I slowly broke away.

_Well, I believe in fate  
__It had to happen this way  
__But it always leaves me wondering whether  
__In another life we'd be together  
__We should feel lucky we can say:  
__We've always got yesterday_

"I love you" I said emotionally. He smiled.

"So do I and I will always love you. You coming here was the best thing that ever happened to me." I stared at him as to memorize his face and especially his eyes so I would never forget. Then I hugged him really, really tight. After a few minutes I knew it was time to go. I let him go and gave him a last kiss.

"I'm gonna miss you" he said. The tears were still streaming down my face and I nodded. As I grabbed my bag and walked away I turned around one more time and said, "I guess we're not meant to be after all"

_And as I leave it all behind  
__You're still emblazoned in my mind  
__And for that very special day  
__Nobody loved me in that way_

I walked over to the gummi ship and as I climbed in my heart felt literally broken. I threw my bag somewhere as Ruby followed me inside and sat down next to me. I sat at a window and watched Leon talk to Cid who was going to fly me to the warp hole that led to my world. Cid nodded to something and entered the ship too. He gave me a sad smile and walked to the front. The door closed and I started crying again. This was really it. I would never see them again. I was crying my eyes out as we took off and I saw my friends become tinier and tinier until I couldn't see them anymore.

"It's gonna be okay" Ruby said.

"How can it be okay?" I snapped. "I will never see them again."

"Maybe you will" she said. I stopped sobbing.

"What? What are you talking about?" she grinned.

"A little birdie told me that you might be seeing them again" my eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yes really." She said as she stood up. That prevented me from seeing that her eyes had just turned a creepy red colour. "Just wait. You'll be seeing them very soon. When you least expect it…"

_Forget me not, I ask of you  
__Wherever your life takes you to  
__And if we never meet again  
__Think of me every now and then._

* * *

That's it. The end. As you might have noticed by the end of this story, I've decided to do a sequel. I don't know when it'll be up, though. Because it's finally spring break here and I'll be going/coming to America for 4weeks (yay!). So maybe I'll get some inspiration there. I already have an idea for the sequel, but I'll have to work it out. So it might take a long time before I post it. Anyway, thanks so much for reading and reviewing this story! I hope the end didn't disappoint you.

SilverHearts


	12. Authoress Note!

Authoress Note

Sorry to keep you all waiting…You see, I kind of lost my obsession with Kingdom Hearts a while back. But now that KH2 has finally come out here in Europe (and I almost beat it!) It's back!

So, the sequel should be coming up soon. I have two plots in mind, but one of them is completely different from the first story. I hope you don't mind if it's that different. But I'm still deciding.

Anyways…just wanted to let you know. I hope you all haven't given up on the sequel!

SilverHearts


End file.
